Providing the Missing Link

As part of the Casey Foundation’s Jobs Initiative, the report describes ways to help lift disadvantaged neighborhoods out of poverty by improving low-income workers’ job readiness and retention, while simultaneously increasing the quantity and quality of available career opportunities.

A look at Milwaukee Making Connections and the Lincoln Action Program.

Key Takeaway

Neighborhood-Focused Employment

Neighborhood-focused workforce development efforts can help address poverty, one low-income worker at a time. This model also expands job training and career advancement opportunities for all residents in an otherwise disadvantaged area.

Findings & Stats

Neighborhood assessment

Neighborhood-focused workforce development programs need to know and respond to the needs of their clients.

Outreach and recruitment

Successful recruitment and program enrollment of low-income job seekers is key to any effective workforce development effort.

Career planning

Trusted advisors who provide individualized career planning for low-income job seekers need to be supportive, well-connected and well-informed.

Neighborhood employment center

A neighborhood employment center provides crucial connections to job leads, as well as related services and resources.

Wraparound services

Childcare, transportation and other needs must be addressed to help parents retain their jobs.

Statements & Quotations

Sometimes, the only thing between a client and a job is a chance. More often, however, there are skills that clients need to develop in order to succeed in the workplace. Soft skills, “the skills, abilities and traits that pertain to personality, attitude and behavior rather than to formal or technical knowledge,” are critical to address in a neighborhood employment program that serves people with limited work experience.

It is essential, in designing the neighborhood program, to listen to residents. Neighborhood surveys and focus groups can provide a finer-grain understanding of residents’ perceptions, opinions and desires.